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Quek Jia Qi is an artist and educator. Working at the intersection of art and pedagogy, she works in the ever-expanding field of social practice that engages in modes of reciprocity. Having led and facilitated participatory workshops, site-specific installations, public programmes, and performances across the US, UK, Europe and Asia, her work has been presented at the Singapore Archifest; Institute of Contemporary Arts, Singapore; CICA Museum, South Korea; Whiteconcepts Gallery, Berlin; Framer Framed, Amsterdam; Raven Row, London; The Yard Theatre, London; King’s College London; Goldsmiths, University of London; 5th Base Gallery, London; amongst others in the public streets of London, Singapore and New York City. She has also worked with Asia-Art-Activism research network, The Substation, and Serpentine Education & Projects, at Serpentine Galleries to facilitate and evaluate community-centred public programmes to define the role of arts in times of transition and social change. In 2017, Jia Qi was awarded the Social Art Award by The Institute for Art and Innovation e.V. She holds a BA (First-Class) Joint Honours in Fine Art & History of Art from Goldsmiths, University of London, UK.
Working collaboratively with diverse communities and disciplines, Jia Qi is passionate about redefining the accessibility narrative - how art can be a gift to those who can encounter it, expanding on modes of exchange, reciprocity and relationships. She believe co-creation is the fertile ground where we can cultivate our ability to connect with one another, transcending diverse abilities, age, and backgrounds. Her recent works include Kuti Kuti?, intergenerational community art project that reimagines a game from the past into a life-sized soft sculpture playground. Can You Hear Me? a public interactive installation as a playful placemaking intervention into our public parks. A Picnic In Apart, a digital picnic that brings together individuals from across borders to re-discover our relationship with food. Bind, a participatory archival project developed during her research residency at Asia-Art-Activism where participants learn to bind stories of care from others and our own. Field Trip to Redhill, a collaboration with DesignSingapore Associates and My Community to uncover the design of everyday life, heritage and stories through a mix of guided and spontaneous wanderings. She also co-led Myths On a Red Hill, a public pavilion that reimagines an open classroom in an urban farm in Singapore that could weave knowledge from the different individuals and communities. As an educator, she is passionate about curating learning cultures that foster transformation, drawing from her extensive experience teaching across different levels—pre-school, middle school, high school, university and adults. Driven by a keen awareness of interconnected systems, she is committed to co-designing learning experiences to build our capacity for care and curiosity. She has engaged in teaching and speaking roles across diverse array of settings, including Goldsmiths, University of London, King’s College London, Royal College of Art, Raven Row London, Asia-Art-Activism, National Library Board Singapore, School Of The Arts, Singapore, Brooklyn Free School, Very Special Arts (VSA), Skillseed Sg, and Zarch Collaboratives. With her love for children's literature, Jia Qi is also a published illustrator for The Little Things – a children’s book about kindness, narrated with characters of local food to inspire children in Asia to celebrate who they are. |
EDUCATIONGoldsmiths, University of London, London, UK,
BA (First Class Hons) Fine Art and History of Art School of Visual Arts and the Babson Social Innovation Lab, New York, USA Design for Social Innovation School of Visual Arts, New York, USA City as Site: Performance and Social Interventions PUBLIC ART & EXHIBITIONS2025
A Living Museum for Bukit Gombak Public Art Initiative at Bukit Gombak, as part of NACxLTA Art Under Viaduct Spaces Field Notes for Encountering Nature in collaboration with Aaron Lim, Public interactive installation as part of Arts@Jurong Lake Gardens 2023 First Flight in collaboration with Aaron Lim, Public interactive installation at Armenian Street, as part of Singapore Night Festival 2024. 2023 Kuti Kuti? Playground Radin Mas Community Club, as part of Singapore Art Week 2023 x PAssionArts x Arts in Your Neighbourhood, supported by National Arts Council Singapore and People's Association. 2022 As You Were National Arts Council Public Art Initiative, Bishan-AMK Park, SG Aedge Exhibition 2022 School of the Arts Singapore (SOTA) Art Gallery organised by Singapore Teachers' Academy for the aRts (STAR) 2020 A Picnic In Apart [Virtual] AAA Till We Meet Again IRL Digital Programme, supported by Arts Council England & Bagri Foundation Field Trip to Redhill (Archifest 2020 Edition) [Virtual] collaborated with Design Singapore Associates, Myths on a Red Hill and City Sprouts Field Trip to Redhill [Virtual] collaborated with Design Singapore Associates, Myths on a Red Hill and MyCommunity Kopi & Myths Myths on a Red Hill, Singapore 2019 PARK(ing) Day 2019 Tan Quee Lan Street, Singapore Goldsmiths BAFAHA Degree Show 2019 Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom Public Programmes: Power Walks Serpentine Galleries, London, United Kingdom Bind MOKU Pacific HQ, Raven Row, London, United Kingdom Raven Row Open House Asia-Art-Activism, Raven Row, London, United Kingdom Diaspora Disco The Glove That Fits, London, United Kingdom Bind Asia-Art-Activism, Raven Row, London, United Kingdom SEACurrents 2019 Raven Row, London, United Kingdom Oceans*A*Part Raven Row, London, United Kingdom Diaspora Disco The Yard Theatre, London, United Kingdom 2018 UnAuthorised Medium: Intense Visitations FramerFramed, Amsterdam, Netherlands Dumplings & Dialogue Raven Row, London, United Kingdom FLOW LIVE #1: Contract With the Skin Raven Row, London, United Kingdom No Image - International Exhibition CICA Museum, South Korea Untitled (Goodnight Stranger) AGORA, Berlin, Germany Is This Seat Taken? Outside Whitney Museum, New York, USA Untitled (Grieving in New York City) West 23rd Street, New York, USA Shifting Intimacies RAW, Singapore TEDxCambridgeUniversity xHibits Cambridge University, United Kingdom Hit Me Baby, One More Time London, United Kingdom Conversations in Singapore History 2018 Kings College London, London, United Kingdom No Naked Flames 2 Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom 2017 Stir-fry: An exhibition London, United Kingdom And Everything In Between: Disciplines in Dialogues London, United Kingdom Social Art Award No.1 WHITECONCEPTS Gallery Berlin, Germany Shifting Concretes: Can We “Lepak” Better at Orchard Road? Orchard Road, Singapore Creative Debuts x The Black & White Building, Black and White Building, Shoreditch London, United Kingdom 2016 Seven Deadly SINs Exhibition Capitol Piazza Singapore, Singapore A-OK Mindroll Art Exhibition Goldsmiths', University of London London, United Kingdom SOUND & LANGUAGE EXHIBITION Special Collections Archive, Goldsmiths Library London, United Kingdom A Journey Away From Urban Life 5th Base Gallery London, United Kingdom 2014 Singapore Youth Festival Art Exhibition 2014 LASALLE College of the Arts The Institute of Contemporary Art Singapore (ICAS) Galleries 1 & 2 and the Trispace, Singapore 2013 La Viva Art Exhibition Goodman Arts Centre Singapore ACCOLADESSocial Art Award
The Institute for Art and Innovation e.V., The Gold Award Goldsmiths, University of London, UK 3rd Runner-Up in Young Artists Category Singapore Airlines Open House & Art Competition 2015, Singapore Honourable Mention Singapore Youth Festival Art Exhibition, Singapore Most Photogenic Design Award National Azimuth NDP Watch Design Competition supported by DesignSingapore Council Finalist National Azimuth NDP Watch Design Competition supported by DesignSingapore Council 3rd Prize Singapore Youth Photographers Convention, Singapore |
TALKS & WORKSHOPS2025
Field Notes for Encountering Nature Co-Creation Activity in collaboration with Aaron Lim, as part of Arts@Jurong Lake Gardens. 2024 Ways of Seeing: Embracing differences through observations of our everyday encounters in collaboration with Rendi Toh, Co:creation Workshop, as part of Our Time To Shine, supported by National Arts Council Singapore. 2023 Kuti Kuti? Playground Artists Chit Chat Radin Mas Community Club, as part of Singapore Art Week 2023 x PAssionArts x Arts in Your Neighbourhood, supported by National Arts Council Singapore and People's Association. 2022 Kuti Kuti? Maker Lab Bukit Merah Community Club, as part of Singapore Art Week 2023 x PAssionArts x Arts in Your Neighbourhood, supported by National Arts Council Singapore and People's Association. Mapping with Sounds Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park, as part of National Arts Council "As You Were" Public Programmes 2022 Arts in Education Forum 2022 School Of The Arts, Singapore, supported by Temasek Foundation 2021 Roundtable: Structures of Care: Ways of Knowing, Being, Working A New Season of Care, curated by Annie Jael Kwan, supported by National Arts Council Singapore 2020 Artist Talk Panel: Politics and Practices of Care AAA Till We Meet Again IRL Digital Programme, supported by Arts Council England & Bagri Foundation 2019 Ground-up Initiatives: Artist Talk AA Asia, Zarch Collaboratives, Singapore Archifest 2019, Singapore AAA Sharing for MA Curating Contemporary Art, Royal College of Art Asia-Art-Activism, London, United Kingdom Artist Workshop for BA Curating, Goldsmiths' University of London BA Curating, Goldsmiths' University of London, London, United Kingdom Serpentine Education and Projects, Public Programmes: Power Walks Serpentine Galleries, London, United Kingdom AAA Sharing Session: Artist Talk Raven Row, London, United Kingdom 2018 Interdisciplinary Symposium, Conversations in Singapore History 2018 Kings College London, London, United Kingdom Arts for Social Good Creatives x Alternatives Programme '18, Skillseed Singapore London, United Kingdom 2017 The Little Things Book Launch Tampines National Library, Singapore Shifting Concretes, Discipline The City 2017, The Substation, Singapore Arts for Social Good Creatives x Alternatives Programme '17, Skillseed Singapore London, United Kingdom 2016 Higher Education and Careers Symposium '16 Dunman High School, Singapore 2015 Higher Education and Careers Symposium '15 Dunman High School, Singapore PUBLIC PROGRAMME, EDUCATION AND CURATINGMyths on a Redhill
CitySprouts, Singapore Serpentine Education and Projects, Public Programmes: Power Walks Serpentine Galleries, London, United Kingdom Interdisciplinary Symposium, Conversations in Singapore History 2018 Kings College London, London, United Kingdom And Everything In Between London, United Kingdom The Little Things Book Launch in collaboration with Jiezhen Wu and Tampines Kindness Movement Tampines National Library, Singapore Shifting Concretes in collaboration with Karen Lam and The Substation Singapore Discipline The City Programme Workshop Series, The Substation Ltd Singapore, Singapore Your Familiar Stranger Very Special Arts (VSA), Singapore, Singapore ARTIST & RESEARCH RESIDENCIESAsia-Art-Activism
Raven Row London, UK AFFECT Residency for Collaborative Artistic Practices Agora Collective e.V. Berlin, Germany City as Site: Performance and Social Interventions Summer Residency, School of Visual Arts, New York, USA WRITINGS / PUBLICATIONSLessons From Caring For House Plants During The Pandemic According To An Artist And Plant Mum
Female Magazine, Singapore A Desire to Take Care: Lessons from caring for houseplants during the pandemic Home & Decor, Singapore A Desire to Care BRACK, COVID Companions feature Singapore AAA Reflection: The Gift of Radicalising Domesticity London, UK Indigo Magazine #2: Cities London, UK Cross talk: a halfway point, a sidebar reflection Collaboratively written text for 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art Sydney, Australia The Little Things - A Book about Kindness Children's Book Singapore The Social Art Award 2017 - Invigorating the Rise of Social Art The Institute of Art and Innovation e.V. Berlin, Germany |